Bleed Slow
by Homely
Summary: Modern AU; In which a married detective crosses the path of a man with a mysterious profession. Levi/Mikasa
1. Of Bars and Ballrooms

**Bleed Slow**

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_**chapter one; **of bars and ballrooms_

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There was a cold tingle in the air that night. It breezed into the bar, only for a moment as each body would enter or exit. A young woman sat poised on a stool before the granite counter; short black hair, an ominous stare, and a deadly pair of red lips to match her crimson evening dress. Her lipstick left a stain on the fancy cup of white wine she sipped, as her wary gaze glanced at each moving body that passed her by.

He was late, again.

"Another drink, miss?" The bartender inquired from behind the counter, casually cleaning out a glass with a white cloth. She nodded, handing him the now empty glass.

Four cups in, still no sign of her date.

Mikasa, though not generally impatient, tapped her toe against the metal stool in anticipation.

The bar she sat in was elegant, as it was just branched off one of the top hotels in Trost. All around her were rich people going about their casual evenings; expensive evening gowns and classy suits with silly bow ties engaged in leisurely conversation and drinks. It all made Mikasa sick.

She geared her head around she felt another breeze waft through her hair, tingling her bare shoulders. It was as if she could sense his presence from the moment it entered her radius. And there stood Jean Kirschtein, Mikasa's supposed husband_, _dressed up in a tan suit with a purple tie. It was tacky, Mikasa thought, but she sent him a wave upon seeing him.

"You're late again." She spoke with bitterness lacing her tone. The tall man rushed to grab his seat beside her.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa." He stared at her face, but she refused to look at him as she sipped from her freshly filled glass of wine. "My father had me held up at the office, there wasn't much I could do about it."

"Even though it's our anniversary?" She shot him a venomous glare, and Jean sweat dropped.

I-I'm sorry... Please, let me make it up to you." He stood up and offered her his hand. Reluctantly, she swallowed the rest of her drink before accepting his offer. Jean lead her towards the ballroom. Though Jean and Mikasa had been married for exactly one year that day, apparently, he still hadn't a clue what she was interested in doing.

She scoffed at how much of a fool he was for taking her to a hotel ballroom dance party for their anniversary, but she kept her mouth shut, thinking that it was sweet of him to at least try to please her.

"I invited some of our friends too, Mikasa." Jean smiled to her.

She looked to him quizzically. "Oh? I thought this night was supposed to be for _us."_

"It will be, but I figured that you would like to celebrate with our closest friends for the first part of the evening."

He somewhat had that right. She could tell that Jean was trying to please her, as it had been blatant lately that she was growing sour around him. "So, who did you invite?" Mikasa inquired as the two entered the ballroom, taking in the regal appearance of it. It was a different atmosphere than the bar; rather than being dark and decorated with red, the ballroom was open and golden with an unnecessarily large chandelier. Many couples were dancing under the rich light.

"Marco, Sasha, Christa, Connie, Armin, and Eren of course."

Mikasa flinched at the last name. "You invited Eren?"

"Of course." He smiled. "I know you haven't seen him in a while, and I figured this would be the perfect time to get the guy to come out."

She pursed her lips. It _had _been a while since she'd seen her step brother. They lived in different cities now, after all. Mikasa had left Shiganshina to live with Jean in Trost, six months after their wedding. Their childhood friend, Armin, had also moved to continue his education. Trost was a larger city and had more opportunity for work and schooling, but Eren insisted on staying. Mikasa hadn't seen him since the move.

"Did he say he was going to come?" She asked skeptically.

"Yep! Isn't that great?" Jean beamed brightly at Mikasa, and she forced a small one back at him.

"Y-Yeah... Thank you, Jean." She kissed him on the cheek, though inwardly, she was anxious about Eren's arrival.

Mikasa and Jean danced for a while, despite Mikasa being horrible at dancing. She basically had to have Jean twirl her around like a rag doll. Her husband came from a prestigious family in Trost, so he had grown up attending events such as this, things that were foreign to Mikasa upon meeting him. After all that time, he still didn't know how much she hated dancing...

An hour later, the night was still young, and Mikasa's mood was only seeming to get worse. Even after Armin and the others arrived, all looking great in their suits and dresses, she wasn't exactly stoked to see her 'brother'. Not because she didn't want to see him, more because she knew that it would be awkward.

She was standing by the appetizer table, alone, checking her cellphone when she heard his throat clear near her.

"Mikasa, hey." He spoke, watching as her head slowly lifted from the screen of her cellphone to his painfully familiar face. He wore an off smile, and she simply looked at him, shocked.

"Eren."

He pulled her into an uncomfortable hug, which she reluctantly responded to. "How have you been?" He grinned as he pulled away. Mikasa could tell that he, too, was feeling weird.

"I have been fine. Yourself?"

"I've been okay... Just been learning a lot about medicine from my father, lately."

"I see. How is he?"

"He's good, he told me to tell you to give a phone call every once in a while." Eren laughed bashfully, making Mikasa blush and avert his eyes.

"Tell him that I'm sorry. I've been busy."

"Yeah, I bet..." He trailed off. "Well, I think I'm going to go see Armin. I haven't run into him yet."

"Yeah, I need another drink." The girl pushed pass him and went straight towards the bar.

_This is all too much... _She thought, grabbing the only empty stool, not caring if she would be surrounded by random people, or in someone's spot who had stepped away for a moment. Her mind was in turmoil, all the feelings she had for Eren that were repressed had came back instantly the moment she saw his face. The boy she'd grown up with, who she was ultimately in love with and had rejected her all those months ago was now back in her life, at her anniversary, making things worse than they already were. The familiar, cool sting of rejection she'd felt from her step brother was bubbling inside her stomach. It wasn't that she didn't care for Jean, but she couldn't lie to herself and say that she loved him more than Eren. On top of that, over the year, she had grown annoyed by his constant lateness and inconsistency. And after being in a relationship of the same thing for well over two years, the girl was getting-

"Bored?" A new voice entered her ears, snapping her from her reverie. Her eyes darted to the man seated to her left; a man she'd never seen before. He was evidently older, either his late twenties or early thirties, and stared at her with a pair of blue, half lidded orbs. He wore a crisp black suit with a red tie; _much classier than Jean, _her mind instantly thought, though she shook that thought from her mind and focused on why this stranger was speaking to her.

"Uh, yeah..." She replied nonchalantly, looking away.

"As am I." He sighed. She noticed that he was drinking whiskey on the rocks, rattling the ice cubes in the cup as he swirled it around with boredom. "You're a bit young for something like this, aren't you?" He asked as if it were his business. His voice was low, yet velvety. He spoke with a distinct slur.

"I am." Mikasa admitted. "Which brought me to the bar, where I fit in more."

The man chortled. "Touché."

Mikasa almost winced as she watched him take a sip of the straight alcohol. She took the moment he was looking away to see his face; well, there was an attractive man. She mentally slapped herself for thinking something so dirty. When she looked away, the man was eyeing her with the same interest.

"Would you mind if I asked your name, miss?" He queried politely, a tone Mikasa wasn't accustomed to hearing from a man, which was strange considering he didn't exactly look like the kindest. He was handsome, but his sharp eyes were daunting and mysterious. Regardless, Mikasa shook her head.

"It's Mikasa."

"You can call me Levi." He said curtly, holding out his hand. Hesitantly, the girl eyed him with suspicion, before offering him hers. There was something alluring in those eyes of his. Something dangerous, that glinted especially strong as he pulled her hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss upon it, their eyes never wavering. Mikasa's heart and stomach fluttered in unison. "It's nice to meet you, Mikasa." He said, allowing her hand to drop and regaining his original composure. "What brings you here tonight?"

"Actually, it's my one year anniversary with my husband... Yourself?"

"Work." He replied simply, showing no concern about her marital status. "Yet the man I'm looking for appears to be late."

"Ah, I know how you feel."

"Is that so?"

"My husband is always late, so I know how you feel." She muttered, cursing under her breath. Where was that fool, anyway? Not one person had come to check up on her at the bar. She imagined that Jean was talking away with Eren, entirely ignorant to Mikasa's feelings. She quickly finished the rest of her wine, waving to the tender to grab her another. The alcohol was starting to kick in, and she felt more at ease with this stranger than she normally would have, had she been sober.

"That's unfortunate." Levi said. "This is kind of a shitty place to bring a woman for an anniversary anyway, though. No offence intended."

"It's okay, I agree."

"I suppose that's why you're sitting at the bar, conversing with a total stranger?"

The girl nodded. "I guess that's why. He's trying to please me, though. He rented a room in this grand hotel for the night, and he invited all our friends, but... Evening dresses and fancy wine just aren't my thing."

"So, what is your thing, then?" Interest sparkled in his eyes, which was enough to make Mikasa want to speak. She wasn't the talkative type, but under the influence, everyone's shell cracked every once in a while. And besides, when was the last time a man had actually shown genuine interest in what she had to say?

"If you must know, I'm training to become an investigator."

"An investigator? Like a police detective?"

"Yeah... I'm still in training. I've only really dusted finger prints off for corner store robberies, but, my hope is to someday be solving murders."

Levi raised an eyebrow, not expecting such an answer. "You must be a smart woman." As Levi said those words, the presence of Mikasa's husband caught her attention. The tall man stumbled into the room, visibly drunk, and made his way over to her.

"Mikasa, let's dance!" He slurred, red-faced, not even taking notice to the older man who was leaning towards his wife with interest.

"Let me finish my drink, Jean." The woman replied dryly, sipping from her glass. "I'll meet you in there."

"Alright." He said, disappearing the same way he came in.

"It was nice to meet you, Levi." She spoke through an exasperated breath, as she finished off her wine. As she stood to walk away, ready to return to her normal life, but she couldn't help but think that for some other worldly reason, talking to this stranger had given her night a thrill.

Levi scanned her body with his eyes, before nodding to her. As she drifted by him, she could have sworn she heard him say _"perhaps our paths will cross again, Mrs. Ackerman."_

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**A/N: **Alright ya'll, this story is going to be a bit... Different.

I know this chapter doesn't tell you much, it's more of a prologue or teaser, I guess, but I hope it captivates some readers. Also, I want to apologize in advance for the way I've portrayed Jean in this chapter, he's actually going to have a much more significant role, rather than just Mikasa's annoying husband. I know that Levi seems OOC as fuck, but he won't be ;P

This story is probably going to be super angst, but we'll see where it goes.

Give it a chance? :)

Please **review **and let me know what you think!


	2. An Uncanny Encounter

**Bleed Slow**

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_**chapter two; **an uncanny encounter_

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"Mrs. Kirschtein ... Hello? Mrs. Kirschtein , your papers are ready."

It hadn't registed through Mikasa's mind that she was being spoken to until the receptionist had repeated her name about five times. After nearly two years of being married, Mikasa still wasn't used to being referred to as _Mrs. Kirschtein. _She wanted to readopt her previous last name, but she knew that it would hurt her husband's feelings if she did something like that. Feeling a little silly for not responding to her name, she bashfully accepted the papers from the woman who offered them, before she quietly returned to her cubicle.

Her work area had grown all too familiar. Being an investigator really was _boring _sometimes. Sitting in a tiny cubicle, reading over papers, never seeing any action... Sometimes, she wondered if she should have gone into actual police work rather than detective. _I thought I would be investigating kidnappings and murders by now... _She thought with a pout, plopping down in the office chair that was encrypted with a forever indent of her body. She read over the papers; great, another mini mart got robbed on main street. And great, Mikasa was to go over the video evidence, talk to witnesses, and attempt to get a finger print off a counter that has god knows how many finger prints on it already. Annoyed, she turned the papers upside down, and dwindled her vision upon the photograph of her and Jean that she had beside her computer.

She sighed, bringing her dainty hand into perspective so she could inspect the expensive ring on her finger. It was pure gold, encrusted with multiple small diamonds, a large one being the center piece. She didn't even want to think about how much money he'd wasted on getting it for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an eccentric woman yelling as she ran into the room. "My god, this is huge!" The woman shrieked, speeding past Mikasa's cubicle. She stood up to see Hanji, a superior detective running ramped, shoving papers in everyone's faces. Finally, she stopped on Mikasa. "This is it, Mikasa!"

The girl cocked an eyebrow. "What is?"

Hanji's eyes beyond her glasses were wide with excitement. _She really is a loon, _Mikasa thought, before reluctantly taking the papers from her.

"Murder." Hanji said in a twisted manner. "And we have no flippin' idea who did it."

Mikasa sighed. This happened every time somebody got murdered in Trost; Hanji went crazy about it, said it was the biggest thing ever, and then got her team to crack the case within a week. Mikasa wasn't even interested in it considering she knew she'd play no role in it. But still, every time it happened, she always asked.

"I don't assume I could tag along for this mission, could I, Hanji?"

"Actually... Yes!" _Wait... What? _"You've been with us for a long time, Mikasa, you're probably bored of investigating who stole granny's purse... Leave that to the newbies."

Mikasa abruptly shot to her feet and met eye to eye with the older woman. "Don't fuck with me, Hanji." She said in disbelief.

"I swear, I'm not!" She beamed, and Mikasa froze.

"No way... I'm actually... Moving up?"

"You betcha. Excited?"

A smile so large had probably never been plastered on the girl's face before. "Y-Yes!"

"Great, go get some lunch and meet me back in my office." And with that, the brunette woman was gone. Mikasa collapsed in her chair. She had been waiting for the moment where she would help out with her first murder case for _years, _and finally, the young woman's dream was coming true.

This joy was new, and certainly refreshing.

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It had only taken Mikasa and Hanji a few days to discover who the murderer was. It was an older man, who had discovered his wife cheating on him; he went berserk, accidentally killed her, and then disappeared onto the streets, disguising himself as a homeless. It would have worked, in theory, had dozens of people not known what the face of her missing husband looked like.

Mikasa had felt an immense surge of justice run through her veins, knowing that she had helped put the dangerous man in jail. Three months, and six cases later, Mikasa was assigned her first solo mission.

Hooked right off Main Street, in an upstairs apartment of a duplex, was discovered the body of an older man who had been identified as a long-time criminal and drug distributor. Regardless of who he was when he was alive, Mikasa still felt chills as she entered his run down apartment, looking at the white outline of where the body had been found. The room was eerily silent, and Mikasa had no idea what she was walking into when she accepted this solo mission. She was used to entering the rooms of victims with the eccentric Hanji by her side, running crazily around the room for clues, while Mikasa did the critical thinking.

Now, it was all up to her to search for any bits of evidence that could lead up to who would want this man dead.

There was an unlimited spectrum of people who may want to kill a drug dealer, making her job even harder. But she was determined to prove to the force that she was just as useful of an asset on her own, as she was with Hanji.

The rickety floor boards creaked with each step she took, only adding to the subtle creepiness of this room. Mikasa took in a sharp intake of breath, reminding herself to stay calm. Her first stop was the man's desk; she was thankful that at least, he lived in a small bachelor apartment, so she wouldn't be searching an entire house for clues. She went through every drawer in the old desk and took out all the random papers and nick knacks he had in it. She felt weird digging through the man's belongings; normally, this would be something that Hanji would do.

Regardless, she began to flip through the dozens of papers, one by one, finding no useful information at all. They were mainly random doodles and copies of old electric bills. By the looks of it, the man had lived in that apartment for many years. She shuddered upon finding pictures of his family; a younger version of himself in a wedding photo with his wife reminded Mikasa of her and Jean.

_Damnit, Mikasa, get a hold of yourself, _she mentally scolded. _I can't let my emotions get in the way of work. _

The man's wife, so far, had been the only affiliation to him that they had, and Mikasa had already spoken to her. Apparently, they had divorced ten years ago, when he got into hard drug dealing.

After about fifteen minutes of thoroughly inspecting the papers, she really didn't find any useful information to the case. As she was putting them back in their place (unsure of where else to put them), she stumbled upon an envelope that she had somehow missed. _"To Levi," _it wrote, striking a memory back into the girl's mind.

_Levi._

The man at the bar on her anniversary last year.

Naturally, the chances of this letter being addressed to that specific man were slim, but still, it reminded her of him. She hadn't really forgotten about the mysterious man, or the way he curtly placed a kiss on her hand, but she hadn't seen him since that night. That thought aside, she opened up the envelope to find that it was empty.

_Strange... _She mused. _Why would he have this in his desk? _She ran through a few different scenarios about why this would be there; A) he had planned to write the letter, but never followed through or B) somebody took it. But option B was the case, then why wouldn't that person just take the envelope? Unless they had taken the letter before it had a chance to be put away...

_No, that's stupid, _Mikasa concluded, deciding that this was probably just some random thing. Regardless, the name Levi was an affiliation. So she tucked the envelope into an evidence bag and put it in her side pack. At least it was something.

She continued her search throughout the apartment, in search of something, _anything _that would give her a lead... But there was no cell phone, no computer, nothing. Just old books and clothing. She thought it was rather odd that a drug dealer would not have a cell phone, as they didn't find one on the body, either.

He had a large wooden chest that was also full of old papers. Mikasa sighed, thinking _how exhausting, more papers to look through... _The chest was massive and packed full of old crap that Mikasa wished she didn't have to sort through alone.

_This is my dream, remember? _She reminded herself now and then as she threw away another useless document. At the very bottom of the chest, she found a small brown leather notebook. With hope in her head, she opened it up. "Finally..." She groaned, letting out a sigh of relief.

It was a contact book.

It looked ancient, but it was still a contact book. She slipped it in her bag, and decided that it would be enough for one day. She would take this evidence, scarce as it may be, back to the office for evaluation.

She was glad to step into the brisk winter air; the apartment had been stuffy and musty. She geared down the stairs at the side of the house, nearly slipping as she walked onto the sidewalk, before she collided right into a man.

"O-Ouf!"

"Hey, watch where you're going..." The man muttered, an oddly familiar voice ringing in Mikasa's ears. The two stopped to look at each other, shock ridden in their eyes; it was the very man she had thought of earlier.

"Y-You..." She peeped.

"I know you." He said. "From the hotel last year... Right?"

She nodded with a curt smile. "Uh, yes. Mikasa. Mikasa Kirschtein."

He extended his hand to hers and shook it. "Levi."

"Yes, I remember." The two seemed to be headed in the same direction, so they naturally kept up walking next to each other. Mikasa was surprised to see that he was slightly shorter than her.

"What brings you down town today?" He asked casually, hands in the pockets of his dress pants. He wore a black suit underneath his tan coat, and didn't seem to mind the breeze blowing the coat away from his body.

"Just work." She said. "Yourself?"

"Ah, yes. Business as usual. You were training to become a detective last time I saw you, correct?"

She nodded, and couldn't help but smile. "Actually, today is my first solo case."

"Is that so? What are you investigating today?"

"I'm not allowed to spare details, but I will say that I made it to that dream I told you about that night... If you remember, that is."

He nodded. "I remember." She sent him a look of surprise, not actually expecting him to remember something like that. Jean could hardly even remember her favourite colour and she was married to him. The two stopped at the cross walk and waiting for their signal to walk. "Say, are you busy at the moment?" He asked her.

"Not necessarily. Why do you ask?"

"I'm on my lunch break. Care to accompany me for some coffee?"

She was taken back by this proposal, unsure if it was right to accept his offer; but it was just coffee. And it wasn't like this man was a _complete _stranger...

"Sure, I wouldn't mind."

The two selected the closest coffee shop; an urban store decorated with mocha and orange. They sat in the booth by the window, and Mikasa ordered a latte, whereas Levi ordered a black coffee and a bagel. The girl was feeling a little awkward; it'd been a while since she'd sat down with a stranger and had coffee.

_Now that I think about, I don't think I've ever done this... _She pursed her lips and took a sip from the steaming hot drink. She could feel his eyes land on her every so often, before she decided that it was time to strike conversation.

"So, I don't think I ever got your profession." She said.

His eyes flashed to hers. "Actually... I work in the same field as yourself."

Mikasa straightened her shoulders and frowned with interest. "You do?"

"Yes, but I work for more of a private business."

"Oh, you never mentioned that. So you're an investigator as well?"

He nodded. "Ten years, going strong."

"Interesting..." She mused, trailing off into thought. After a few moments of silence, Levi spoke again.

"So, have you always lived in Trost?"

"No, actually, I was born in Shiganshina. I moved here to live with my husband after our wedding."

"Ah, I see."

"How about yourself?"

"I've travelled a fair bit, but I always end up back in this city." He spoke dryly. "Do you like it here so far?"

She shrugged. "It's certainly different from living in Shiganshina. It's a lot busier."

"Yeah, its irritating..." He muttered, before taking a bite of his bagel.

"You seem to not like it very much here."

"When you've lived somewhere for most of your life, you tend to get sick of it."

"I suppose that's true. I still miss living in Shiganshina sometimes, though."

"Yeah, as much as I dislike Trost at times, there's a reason I always come back." He smirked slightly, and Mikasa couldn't help but blush and uncharacteristically look away. A weird feeling was bubbling in her chest and she had no idea why, but every time she locked gazes with his piercing eyes, or saw him smirk as he spoke, she felt it. After another ten minutes of casual small talk, the two of them stood up, threw away their garbage and exited the shop. They stopped on the corner of the road, where they would be parting ways.

"It was good to see you again, Mrs. Kirschtein ." Levi said as he extended his hand out. Mikasa shook it firmly, giving him a nod and a forced smile as they locked eyes.

"You too, Levi."

"Maybe I'll run into you again." He said as he turned on his heel. "And thanks for joining me for coffee." With a wave of his hand, the man briskly walked away, Mikasa's eyes falling on his retreating frame.

"Strange..." She muttered to herself, before turning to leave. She took another glance back and he had already disappeared, but she couldn't help but shake the ominous feeling that this man could play an important role in her life.

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**A/N: **Hey all, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, faved and followed this story :) you guys rock. I hope that you like this chapter!

Please **review **and let me know how you feel about it!


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